Lady of the Sea
by Prix'Fixe
Summary: The sea will always remember those who have been lost. A Siren Adaptation/Zutara one-shot/


Genre: Romance, Angst, One-shot  
Rating: K+  
Pairing: Slight Zutara  
Summary: The sea will always remember those that have been lost. A simple Siren Adaptation or fluff and angst./Zutara/  
Disclaimer: I own nothing

_Italics are lyrics to the Loreli, a German legend.  
The longer italic part is a flashback._

* * *

...Lady of the Sea...

* * *

_...I can't explain the Sadness within my chest…_

"The Southern Water Tribe is the last Nation that we have to make peace with."

Zuko had kept his eyes shut as his advisors went over the daily matters. He had listened with dulled attention as they kneeled before his throne. His golden eyes snapped open when his uncle's voice cut through the air. The advisors had left the throne room, leaving him and his uncle. Time had lost meaning for him long ago, so how long the advisors were absent still held no meaning for him.

"I said we must visit the Southern Water Tribe and establish peace. The Avatar has guaranteed your safety," Iroh spoke as his aged eyes watched his nephew.

"I do not wish to travel to that Nation," Zuko softly muttered as his eyes shut once more.

_...This unburied legend will not let me rest…_

Iroh's eyes narrowed as he studied his nephew. His nephew was now a strong man, twenty-three and more than ready to take a bride, but he locked himself away. His features were slightly matured and flawless. He held the sharp angles of his father's face, with the soft nature of his mother. Zuko was truly his mother's son in some features and nature, even adorned with the golden flame and royal robes. Ozai's shadow would never loom over Zuko.

"You can not ignore a nation because of your selfishness," Iroh stated. "The past is the past."

The flames along the wall behind Zuko raised a fraction as a muscle in his jaw tightened. His eyes slightly slid open to gaze at his uncle.

"You go negotiate," Zuko muttered. "You are Prince until I produce an heir."

The flames flared to life as Iroh got to his feet. His hair was styled as it once was, topknot grown back. Zuko fully opened in eyes in shock. His uncle had been disappointed, irritated, but never truly angry. Iroh got to his feet and tried to glare at Zuko. The Fire Lord had to be strong and Iroh knew grief better than anyone.

"Her death is not on your hands," Iroh sharply said before he turned and left the room.

_...The air is coolest at twilight…_

The night was cool. The sun was sinking below the horizon painting the sky with hues of twilight. They were leaving the boundaries of his warm homeland for the bitter reaches of the Southern Water Tribe

Zuko was aboard a ship. It didn't matter what metal contraction he was upon, he was still upon it. He was dressed in attire of old that brought back memories of her. The sea absorbed all colors, but its brilliant depth of blue was slowly fading into a black abyss. He couldn't even see his own reflection anymore.

_...A simple glisten catches his sight…_

The guilt was as thick as the ice that layered the sea. This element brought back memories that he wished would stay buried. The sea only made the echoes' call harder; within his throne room he could ignore the call. His eyes strayed to a random glacier and he had to quickly blink. His walls of the throne room kept out images like these, images of her.

_...This lovely vision, the lady of the sea…_

A soft hum, a sound he began to associate with the sea. His eyes stray from dark depths to another glacier. There were no phantom images. He turned and there she was, at the helm of the ship staring out at the sea.

_...Her gaze sad and longing as she hums the ocean's melody…_

_"Katara."_

Zuko didn't know when he spoke or how the words left his dry throat, but it was his voice upon the air. Her head turned and he could make out a sapphire eye through her trussed locks.

_...Her verses rehearsed, hurries the night_…

He was used to spirits. The Avatar communicated with those of his past lives. He had spirit guardians in forests, but never anything like this. He was too aware for it to be a dream and she was too vivid to be another distant memory. She was just as he remembered her. She wore the light blue parka with white fur around the hood and reaching her knees. It was that parka from that night. Her legs clad in darker shade of blue leggings and tucked safely into knee high leather boots. A simple dark braid with loose bangs was her hair. Around her neck was the crimson ribbon with the marquis diamond.

"You're alive," Zuko whispered.

He approached her regardless of his safety. There were those that wished him dead that could send an image of her to distract him. He didn't care and this is why he rushed toward her.

_...Her love a beacon of light…_

This image of Katara was all he could see. The world was ignored and the darkness of the sky and sea created the perfect illusion that nothing else existed. He was hesitant to touch her for fear that she would vanish much like she did in his fevered dreams.

Katara fully turned around to face him, her eyes laced with emotion untold. She mouthed words that her voice wouldn't carry, but he didn't care. Zuko reached out and cupped both of her cheeks holding her face within his hands. She was cold like the sea, but he ignored it.

_...He heard the goddess singing and ignored the ice above…_

"I didn't mean to let you die," Zuko whispered to her as he rested his lips against her forehead.

Her hands reached up and rested against his chest. Zuko didn't know if she was a figment, but he didn't care. All that mattered was that his queen was within reach and she felt real. If he was upon the shores of death, he would gladly stay just to be beside her. The guards of the Northern Water Nation never found her body and he had never found his peace.

He felt her cold lips press against his lips and finally a voice broke through his fantasy.

"Zuko! The ice!"

He registered the voice as his Uncle's. Katara reached out and embraced him as the boat slammed against a glacier and chunks of ice slammed onto the deck around Zuko.

"All for you," Katara whispered.

* * *

_He was standing at the edge of the spirit oasis in the Northern Water Tribe. Katara was kneeling in front o the water watching the koi lazily swim. He briefly wondered what she was thinking before she glanced up at him with a smile._

_"Come kneel," she softly said as she held out her hand._

_He grudgingly did so as he took her hand. Zuko didn't release his hold, but she gave a squeeze of reassurance. Her free hand reached out and pulled a bit of the water from the oasis. It floated as a small water orb above the swimming koi._

_"Wait!" Zuko suddenly said._

_The orb of water splashed back as Zuko released Katara's hold. He dug into the folds of his crimson shirt and removed a cloth of blue silk. _

_"You've been a representative of the Fire Nation for three years as an advocator of peace," Zuko began. He licked his lips and unfolded the blue cloth. Her eyes widened in shock._

_"I want you to represent the Fire Nation as my Fire Lady," Zuko quickly said as he kept his eyes on her folded hands._

_"Zuko…"_

_He met her eyes and barked out in his nervousness, "Marry me!"_

_His pale face flushed red. Katara's eyes softened as she gazed at the betrothal necklace within his hand. She turned her back to him and he exhaled steam. His calloused fingers undid her mother's necklace. He placed it within her hand before he began to tie his own necklace onto her. Pride was held within his eyes as she turned around and he gazed at his work. It perfectly fit her._

_"Close your eyes, for me," Katara happily said._

_He suspiciously stared at her before he relented. Katara reached and bended a small orb of water from the oasis and thanked the spirits before she coated her hand with the water. She placed her hand upon his scar and focused on the task that was left behind long ago. She removed her hand and his eyes snapped open. He quickly reached up and touched his face. It was perfectly smooth. His vision was normal._

_Zuko turned to stare into the oasis and saw a face he had never imagined to see again._

_"My gift to you," Katara happily announced._

_Zuko stood up and as he did, he pulled her up with him. He held her against his body and buried his face within her hair. Katara relished the moment as her arms wrapped around his waist. She was engaged to __the man__ she once thought spoiled, arrogant, and insufferable. It was amazing how destiny worked._

_"Our wedding will be the wedding of the century!" Zuko announced._

_"I don't want something too big," Katara protested._

_"Nonsense, Uncle will insist," Zuko reasoned with a smirk._

_She heard the noise before he did. It was her element and she knew everything about it, from the way it flowed, to its color, and how it sounded being bended. A crackle and hiss meant it was too late. Katara grasped Zuko's arms and pushed him to the ground. He protested and his eyes widened in horror._

_"Zu…ko," Katara uttered as she began to sway. "Purists."_

_The ice had pierced her chest. It tore__through skin and scrapped against ribs before it pierced her organs. Zuko grasped her shoulders and lowered her to her knees. Her eyes were focused on him despite the tears staining her face. Her eyes narrowed and she pushed him back. A disk of ice slammed into her and she was sent tumbling into the oasis. Water Nation guards barged into the small paradise. The men that had attacked began __to __scatter as they jumped from the shadows._

_Zuko ignored them and his safety as he turned to the oasis and shouted for Katara. The two koi and her body were gone._

_"Katara!" He shouted again._

_The guards held him back as they rounded up the attackers. He struggled and shouted himself hoarse. _

_When his Uncle and her Water bending master appeared, they had no explanations besides 'the spirits took her.'_

* * *

Zuko gasped as he awoke. The cries of his uncle were ordering the removal of the ice that somehow only surrounded him. Zuko searched the area and didn't find his Queen. The ice was melted and he was left standing alone. His Uncle rushed forward and embraced him.

"She saved me…again," Zuko muttered as he broke from the embrace and rushed toward the edge of the deck.

Iroh's worried and panicked gaze turned to a solemn look as he followed his nephew. He listened to Zuko's rambling of spotting Katara and he deeply sighed. He placed a heavy hand upon Zuko's shoulder and gave a squeeze.

"The sea is unchanging like memories and the seas will always remember those that have been lost," Iroh simply mused.

* * *

Author's Note:

Just a random one-shot. I'm still working with a random AU story with illusions to Katara being a siren. Still musing about the idea.

Story reviewed by PFNelly

Cookies that review!


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